Does drinking more water help eliminate excess salt from the body?
Feb 21, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Yang Guang
Introduction
When the human body ingests excessive salt, the kidneys play a regulatory role by increasing urine production to accelerate the excretion of sodium ions from the body. Drinking more water can increase urine volume, thus helping to eliminate excess sodium ions through urine. Although drinking more water helps remove excess salt, its effect is limited. Once salt enters the body, it is gradually absorbed by the body.
Generally speaking, consuming more water after eating salty food can help excrete some excess salt from the body to a certain extent, but it cannot completely eliminate all salt from the body. The analysis is as follows:
When excessive salt is ingested, the kidneys play a regulatory role by increasing urine production to accelerate the excretion of sodium ions from the body. Drinking more water increases urine volume, thereby facilitating the removal of excess sodium ions through urine.
Although increased water intake helps eliminate excess salt, its effectiveness is limited. This is because salt is gradually absorbed by the body after entering, reaching a certain equilibrium state within the body. While drinking more water can accelerate urine production and excretion, it cannot directly remove all salt from the body.
In addition to drinking more water, other measures can be taken to promote salt excretion, such as increasing the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables: these foods are rich in potassium ions, which help balance sodium ions in the body, thereby reducing the retention of sodium salts in the body to some extent.
Long-term high-salt diet is highly detrimental to health and may increase the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to maintain a low-salt diet and consume salt in moderation.
